Optimizing management entity selection resiliency for geo-redundancy and load balancing in mobile core network

ABSTRACT

Techniques are presented in which a new information element signaling priority of a management entity is included in a setup (e.g., S1-Setup) response or configuration update message sent by a management entity to a base station entity. The base station entity interprets this priority information along with the relative capacity information in an appropriate way to load-distribute the traffic/calls to highly preferable management entity instances (at a local site) when they are available, and switchover/failover to lower preference management entity instances (at a remote site) when there is a local site outage/failure or insufficient capacity in a geo-resilient pooled network.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to mobile wireless core networkarchitectures.

BACKGROUND

In a wireless mobile core network, an S1-Flex mechanism is used toprovide for network redundancy and load sharing of traffic acrossnetwork elements in the core network. A Mobility Management Entity (MME)and the Serving Gateway (SGW) create a pool of MMEs and SGWs, allowingeach base station (also called eNodeB—eNB) to be connected to multipleMMEs and SGWs in a pool. The S1-Flex architecture ensures functionalityand flexibility with no single point of failure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a mobile core network configured to provideautomatic failover/switchover between a base station entity andprimary/local as well as backup/remote sites of management entities,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a mobile core network, similar to FIG. 1, inwhich there are multiple backup/remote sites of management entities,according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a sequence diagram of message signalingbetween base station entities, management entities and a serviceorchestrator entity to configure the mobile core network for theautomatic failover/switchover depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a process performed by a radio networkmanagement entity to generate priority information that is used for theautomatic failover/switchover techniques presented herein, according toan example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting a process performed by management entityto advertise priority information used for the automaticfailover/switchover techniques presented herein, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting a process performed by a base stationentity that obtains priority information to select among a plurality ofmanagement entities, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computing device that may be configuredto perform the operations of a radio network management entity andmanagement entity as part of the techniques presented herein, accordingto an example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a base station entity configured to performoperations as part of the automatic failover/switchover techniques,according to an example embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Overview

Techniques are presented in which a new information element, thatsignals priority of a management entity, is included in a setup (e.g.,S1-Setup) response or configuration update message sent by a managemententity to a base station entity. The base station entity interprets thispriority information along with the existing relative capacityinformation in an appropriate way to load-distribute the traffic/callsto highly preferable management entity instances (at a local site) whenthey are available, and switchover/failover to lower preferencemanagement entity instances (at a remote site) when there is a localsite outage/failure or insufficient capacity in a geo-resilient poolednetwork.

Thus, in one embodiment, a method is provided that is performed by amanagement entity in a mobile core network. The method involvesobtaining priority information that indicates a priority assigned to themanagement entity, the priority to be used by a base station entity forselection of the management entity among a plurality of managemententities to manage connections of the base station entity, the prioritybeing dependent on which of a plurality of groups of base stationentities for which the management entity may be selected; determining toprovide to a particular base station entity the priority information forthe management entity; and providing to the particular base stationentity the priority information for the management entity according towhich of the plurality of groups of base station entities the particularbase station entity is a part.

In another embodiment, a method is provided that is performed by a radionetwork management entity for a mobile core network that includes aplurality of sites at which one or more management entities are providedto manage connections of user equipment served by a base station entity.The method includes defining a plurality of base station entity groupseach of which includes one or more base station entities; and assigningto a management entity of the one or more management entities, apriority to be used for selection by a base station entity in aparticular base station entity group of the plurality of base stationentity groups, the priority depending on whether the management entityis part of a primary management entity pool for the particular basestation entity group or is part of a backup management entity pool forthe particular base station entity group.

In still another embodiment, a method is provided that is performed by abase station entity in a wireless network. The method includes obtainingfrom each of a plurality of management entities a message including apriority that indicates a selection priority the base station entity isto use when selecting among the plurality of management entities tomanage connections of user equipment served by the base station entity,wherein a higher priority indicates to the base station entity that itis to select a management entity among the plurality of managemententities for primary usage over management entities that have a lowerpriority, which the base station entity is to select for backup usage;and selecting a first management entity of the plurality of managemententities based on the priority for each of the plurality of managemententities.

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Mobility management in a mobile core network ensures that data sessionscan be maintained as User Equipment (UE) devices move about the network.In the fourth generation (4G)/Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture,the mobility management functions are centralized within afunction/entity called the Mobility Management Entity (MME).

In the fifth generation (5G) architecture, the MME functionality isredistributed into precise families of mobility and session managementnetwork functions. As such, registration, reachability, mobilitymanagement and connection management are all new services offered by anew general network function referred to as the Access and MobilityManagement Function (AMF). Session establishment and session management,also formerly part of the MME, are services provided by a networkfunction called the Session Management Function (SMF). Furthermore,packet routing and forwarding functions, currently performed by theServing Gateway (SGW) and Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) in the 4Garchitecture, are realized as services rendered through a networkfunction called the User Plane Function (UPF) which can be distributedat the network edge based on the type of applications.

When a single pool S1-flex solution is deployed across a geographicallydistributed data center, traffic distribution occurs based on therelative capacity of the MME learned by the eNBs via S1-ApplicationProtocol (S1-AP) messages. In such a design, there is no mechanism todistribute traffic from their geographically concentrated eNBs to theirnearest/local datacenter-based MME instances and also fulfill datacenterresiliency requirements.

As used herein, the term “management entity” is meant to include an MMEas used in the 4G/LTE network architecture, an AMF in the 5G networkarchitecture and any entity performing similar functions (such asmanagement of wireless connection including setup/release procedures,handover signaling procedures due to mobility of UEs between basestations, paging procedures, etc.) in any future standard or technologyhereinafter developed or defined.

Similarly, the term “base station entity” is meant to include an eNB asused in the 4G/LTE network architecture, a next generation Radio AccessNetwork (NG-RAN) entity as used in the 5G network architecture and anyentity performing similar functions (wirelessly communicating with UEs)in any future standard or technology hereinafter developed or defined.

There are situations in which there are multiple management entities inpools in a mobile core network. It is generally desirable to havetraffic from base station entities to be directed to a local managemententity datacenter, but when management entities in that datacenter canno longer serve new connections (due to capacity overload, failure orloss of connectivity), then the traffic may need to be sent to a remotemanagement entity datacenter.

Presented herein are techniques for introducing a new informationelement (IE) in the messages sent by the management entities to the basestation entities. This new IE includes priority configurationinformation to enable a priority-based selection by the base stationentity of a management entity. Management entities in the localdatacenter are configured to send a higher priority IE than MMEs in aremote datacenter. As explained herein, the priority may take the formof a numerical value (e.g., an integer) such that a lower numericalvalue indicates a higher priority, for example. The use of numericalpriority values allows for quantifying a priority difference or deltabetween two or more management entities. A management entity that isconfigured to advertise a higher priority (e.g., lower numerical value)will be the active management entity for a particular base stationentity (or group of base station entities) and a management entity thathas a lower priority (e.g., higher numerical value) will serve as abackup management entity to the particular base station entity or groupof base station entities.

During normal/steady state conditions, a base station entity sendstraffic to the management entity with the higher priority. Only when thehigher priority management entity can no longer serve new connectionsdoes the base station entity send traffic to the lower prioritymanagement entity. In so doing, zero-touch failover is achieved. Nomanual intervention is required. The base station entity detects whenthe higher priority active management entity cannot serve newconnections, and automatically switches to the management entity withthe lower priority that was its backup. Without this priority IE, thebase station entity may direct traffic to a remote datacenter managemententity based on relative capacity information even if a local datacentermanagement entity is available, which is less desirable.

As will become apparent from the following description, there canmultiple remote management entity datacenters. The priority may be “P1”(highest priority) for management entities in the local datacenter, “P2”(first lower priority) for the first remote management entitydatacenter, “P3” (second lower priority) for the second remotemanagement entity datacenter, and so on, with successively lowerpriority.

Reference is made to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a mobile core network 100according to an example embodiment. The network architecture of themobile core network 100 shown in FIG. 1 uses, by way of example only,concepts of the 4G/LTE architecture, but this is not meant to belimiting and it should be appreciated that these concepts are readilyapplicable to the 5G or any other network architecture. The network 100includes a first datacenter 110(1) called a local data center and asecond datacenter 110(2) called a remote datacenter. There is at leastone eNB 120(1) that is associated with, and geographically local orproximate to the first datacenter 110(1) and at least one eNB 120(2)that is associated with, and geographically local to second datacenter110(2). Thus, the first datacenter 110(1) is referred to as a localdatacenter with respect to eNB 120(1) and the second datacenter 110(2)is referred to as a remote datacenter with respect to eNB 120(1).

The first datacenter 110(1) includes a pool of MMEs 130(1)-130(n) andthe second datacenter 110(1) includes a pool of MMEs 140(1)-140(m),where m may or may not be equal to n. FIG. 1 shows a UE 150 attemptingto attach to the network 100 at eNB 120(1) and a UE 152 attempting toattach to the network 100 at eNB 120(2).

The 4G/LTE standard has defined an interface, called the “S1 interface,”that includes an interface between an MME and eNB, called the S1-MMEinterface. The S1-MME interface is responsible for delivering signalingbetween the eNB and the MME, and includes a Stream Control TransmissionProtocol (SCTP) over Internet Protocol (IP) that supports multiple UEsthrough a single SCTP association. The S1-MME interface is responsiblefor Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer setup/release procedures,handover signaling procedures (for UEs roaming from one eNB to anothereNB), a paging procedure and the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) transportprocedure.

The MME selection function on the S1 interface resides with the eNBs.The network 100 supports multiple eNBs connected to multiple MMEs. Thus,the eNB 120(1) has connectivity to all the MMEs 130(1)-130(n) in thefirst datacenter 110(1) as well as to all the MMEs 140(1)-140(M) in thesecond datacenter 110(2). Likewise, eNB 120(2) has connectivity to allthe MMEs 130(1)-130(n) in the first datacenter 110(1) as well as to allthe MMEs 140(1) 140(M) in the second datacenter 110(2).

When a UE, for example UE 150 or UE 152, is attempting to attach to thenetwork 100, the UE sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connectivityrequest message. The UE may include in that request an SystemArchitecture Evolved (SAE)-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-TMSI)(a shortened form of the Globally Unique Temporary Identifier (GUTI) toenable more efficient radio signaling procedures) in order to facilitatethe MME selection. The S-TMSI is a concatenation of the MME code (MMEC)and MME Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (M-TMSI).

Taking eNB 120(1) as an example, when eNB 120(1) connects to an MME, theeNB 120(1) initiates an SCTP connection towards the MME. The procedurefor S1-Setup exchanges configuration data used by the MME and the eNB,respectively, to ensure a proper interoperation. The S1-Setup procedureis triggered by the eNB 120(1) towards all the MME instances in thepool, such as MMES 130(1)-130(n) in first datacenter 110(1) and this isthe first S1-AP message exchange. In the S1-Setup response message, eachMME returns the served Globally Unique MME Identifier (GUMMEI)Information Element (IE) and also the configured Relative Capacity (RC)IE.

As per the current 4G/LTE standard, an eNB can be connected to all theMMES in the pool (this is what is referred to as “S1-Flex” connection)and distribute sessions across the MMES in the pool, enhancing theresiliency of the network, but without any preference or higher priorityset to MMES within the local datacenter in a geo-resilient datacenterecosystem. In the current standards, the MME advertises only a weightfactor to eNBs using the RC IE based on which eNBs can distribute thesessions across all the MMES in the pool relative to this value to sharethe load accordingly.

Most mobile operators use one of two designs for S1-Flex pooling whenthere are multiple geographically distributed datacenters. In a firstdesign, the S1-Flex pools are segregated into multiple pools based onthe eNB geographical concentration. When one datacenter fails, manualintervention is required to move the S1 links for the eNBs as needed toavoid the failed datacenter. Most mobile operators have eNBs deployed inthe hundreds of thousands and in such scenario, migrating the traffic istime consuming and can cause service interruption.

In a second design, many mobile operators have a single S1-Flex poolacross distributed geographical areas. With this design, all the MMESare advertising equal relative MME capacity to all eNBs in a S1-Flexnetwork pool, so the amount of cross-site traffic from eNBs to a remotedatacenter increases, even under “sunny day” conditions.

Accordingly, to overcome the aforementioned flaws of the existingS1-Flex pool designs, techniques are presented herein to provide anequal (in case of uniform/equal load-distribution need) non-zerorelative-capacity advertisement by the MME instances in all thedatacenters to the eNBs. Furthermore, a new S1-AP parameter/IE called“MME Priority” is also advertised by MMES in the pool during theS1-Setup procedure with eNBs. This MME Priority IE may be included alongwith the existing MME Relative Capacity IE in an S1-Setup response andin MME configuration update messages sent by the MMES towards eNBs.According to this solution, eNBs will look at the MME Priority asadvertised by MME instances in the pool. Geo-redundancy S1-Flex/poolingis configured such that the local site MME instances advertisethemselves with a higher MME Priority and these would be preferred overthe remote site MME instances. If the higher priority MME instances arenot accessible (due to overload, complete local site outage/disaster orS1-link isolation at the local site), then the eNBs automatically detectthis condition and route (new) S1 traffic/calls to the remote site MMEinstances. One way to detect complete local site outage is by the SCTPheartbeat mechanism between eNBs and individual MME instances.

Thus, as shown at 160(1)-160(n) in FIG. 1, MMES 130(1)-130(n) in thefirst datacenter 110(1) advertise to the eNB 120(1) a MME Priority (P)of “1” (lower the value, the higher the priority/preference) and at162(1)-162(n) a MME Priority of “2” to eNB 120(2). Conversely, at170(1)-170(m) MMES 140(1)-140(m) in the second datacenter 110(2)advertise to the eNB 120(2) at 172(1)-172(m) an MME Priority of “1” anda MME Priority of “2” to eNB 120(1).

This approach is much more optimal and adept at achieving geo-resiliencyas it ensures a graceful switchover of calls by eNBs to other (remote)site MME instances with very minimal downtime during local siteoutage/failure situation. Moreover, this is achieved in an automated or“zero-touch” fashion (i.e., no manual or service-orchestratorinvolvement) as shown at 180 in FIG. 1.

There is a service orchestrator entity 190 that is configured tocommunicate with the MMES of the datacenters 110(1) and 110(2). Theservice orchestrator entity 190 may provide priority information to beadvertised by the MMES in the datacenters 110(1) and 110(2) to theappropriate eNBs. The service orchestrator entity 190 may be located inthe cloud, but in network communication with the datacenters 110(1) and110(2). As will become apparent from the description of FIG. 3, theservice orchestrator entity may 190 may receive the priority informationfrom another entity that manages radio access network entities in thenetwork 100.

With the introduction of the “MME Priority” (through a configurationoption on the MMES) in the S1-Setup response message sent by MMES to allthe eNBs in the network pool, a more viable and intelligent decisioncriteria is enabled at the eNBs using both the “MME Relative Capacity”and “MME Priority” parameters. eNBs select the higher priority(local-site) MMES and load-distribute the traffic to the local-site MMESbased on the Relative Capacity when the local-site MME instances areaccessible. If the MME instances of the local-site are not accessibledue to some site/datacenter disastrous condition or are others at fullcapacity, then switchover/failover to the lower priority (remote-site)MME instances automatically occurs. The switchover by the eNB occurs ina graceful and automated way with this solution. Again, without thissolution, there is a need for manual intervention to divert this trafficfrom eNBs to the remote-site MME instances.

As explained, the changes to the S1-Setup procedures to enable thisfunctionality involve introducing the additional attribute/IE “MMEPriority” in S1-Setup response or MME configuration update message senttowards eNBs by MME instances in the S1-Flex network pool. The belowexample is for a 5G network architecture, but a similar configuration isapplicable for a 4G/LTE network architecture. In a 5G networkarchitecture, the AMF performs the advertising of the Priority to theNext Generation-Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) node, the 5G analog of a4G/LTE eNB.

This message is sent by the AMF to transfer application layerinformation for an NG-C interface instance.

Direction: AMF to NG-RAN node IE/Group Name IE type and reference . . .Message Type Indicated the type of message AMF Name AMF Name RelativeAMF Capacity Relative Capacity of AMF Relative AMF Priority RelativePriority of the AMF . . .

The base station entity (eNB or NG-RAN) interprets this new IE androutes the calls appropriately. The base station entity locallyconfigures these priorities against individual management entityinstances within the pool (as per geo-resiliency pooling) and uses itappropriately when this IE is not received by some management entity inthe pool. The base station entity overrides the locally configuredpriority when this IE is received from a management entity during setupor configuration update procedures.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows an extension of theconcepts presented in FIG. 1, where instead of only two datacentersites, there are three (or more) datacenter sites. More specifically, anetwork architecture 200 shown in FIG. 2 includes an S1-Flex networkpool 210. The S1-Flex network pool 210 includes a base station entitygroup 220, a first (local) datacenter site 230(1) that includes a poolof MMEs 240 and 242, a second (remote) datacenter site 230(2) thatincludes MMEs 244 and 246. The example of FIG. 2 shows only two MMEs indatacenter sites 230(1) and 230(2) for simplicity. It should beunderstood that in an actual deployment there may be numerous more MMEsin each datacenter.

Since the datacenter site 230(1) is local to the base station entitygroup 220, the MMEs in datacenter site 230(1) advertise an MME Priorityof “1” to the base station entity group 220. This is also shown as“Cost=1” for MMEs 240 and 242 of datacenter site 230(1). The datacentersite 230(2) is remote with respect to the base station entity group 220so MMEs 244 and 246 advertise a MME Priority or Cost of “2”. FIG. 2 alsoshows the Relatively Capacity (RC) that each of the MMEs 240, 242, 244and 246 advertises to the base station entity group 220.

If a new datacenter site that includes MME instances needs to beintegrated into the same S1-Flex pool, such as network pool 210, then aservice orchestrator or an operator can configure an appropriatePriority that is advertised to an eNB during the S1-Setup procedure.Thus, the geo-resiliency can be maintained between two datacenter sitesor groups (active/primary and standby/secondary), as well as to anynumber of datacenter sites with various priorities. This would allow amobile network operator to configure a fully geo-resilient networkecosystem with efficient zero-touch failover handling.

To this end, FIG. 2 further shows that a new remote datacenter site230(3), of MMEs 250 and 252, is to be integrated into the network pool210. The MMEs 250 and 252 advertise a Priority or Cost of “3” to thebase station entity group 220. A service orchestrator entity 260 incommunication with the datacenter sites 230(1), 230(2) and 230(3) may beinvolved configuring the Priority that the MMEs from all datacentersites 230(1), 230(2) and new remote datacenter site 230(3) advertise tothe base station entity group 220, similar to that shown in FIG. 1.

The MME instances in a pool located in a datacenter site (e.g.,datacenter site 230(1) in FIG. 2) may be assigned a higher Priority perbase station entity group as compared to MME instances of other poolslocated in the same datacenter site or different datacenter sites. Thismeans that MME instances at a datacenter site can have the same ordifferent Priority, per base station entity group, depending on thedeployment resiliency preference.

As depicted by the base station entity group 220 in FIG. 2, one or morebase station entities can be grouped together based on one or moreidentifiers such as IP address prefix ranges, eNB-identifier (ID)ranges, Tracking Area Code (TAC) ranges, geographic ranges, etc. Thegroup identifier can be used by an MME to map an eNB to the appropriategroup during the S1-Setup procedure. Also, if an MME maintains themapping between eNB and TAC, then the TAC could also be used because theMME provides the list of TACs to an eNB.

Generally, all MME instances associated with a base station entity groupwill have the same priority if they are to be selected based on RelativeCapacity. Priority can be formulated based on one or more factors suchas bandwidth, latency, distance, load, etc. Priority could be anoperator configurable option per base station entity group per MME pool.The priority per base station entity group could be configured on theMMEs, or on Domain Name System (DNS) servers. If configured on the DNSservers, then the MME would retrieve the priority by DNS lookup duringS1-Setup procedures by passing along an eNB identifier.

MME Selection

When an eNB selects an MME node for traffic distribution, the eNB firstchecks the Priority (lower the value, the higher the priority) and thenchecks the Relative Capacity values received during the S1-Setupprocedure. This means that one or more MME instances of a pool would getutilized based on its Relative Capacity only after they are selectedbased on its Priority.

If the preferred pool's MME instances are determined to have reachedtheir peak Relative Capacity (peak capacity), then the eNB could selectthe next preferred pool of MME instances, if available. The eNB maydetermine that the MME has reach its capacity when the MME sends anOverload Start indication as described in clause 8.7.6, “Overload Start”of 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.413 and clause 4.3.7.4, “MMEcontrol of overload” from 3GPP TS 23.401. In a further variation, theeNB may start using an MME in the pool with the next highest Prioritybased on a threshold number of MMEs in the first preferred poolreporting an Overload Start.

In order to provide hysteresis and prevent oscillations among MMEinstances that may fail and restore, MME instances with a higherpriority are to be selected for subsequent new connections once they arerestored and become reachable from eNBs. Availability of a higherpriority MME in the same pool should not impact existing sessions. If anew MME pool becomes available with the same Priority as that of anexisting MME pool, then eNBs could select them all according to theirRelative Capacity values. If an MME is added to a pool with the samePriority as that of MMEs currently being selected, the eNB may selectthat new MME based on its Relative Capacity.

Furthermore, in order to provide hysteresis and prevent oscillationsbetween MME selections, an eNB may be configured to look for a specificdifference in priority of an MME and a priority of a new MME to which aswitch could be made. For example, a situation may arise when a higherpriority (lower numerical value) MME becomes available. The eNB wouldevaluate the priority for that MME and only switch to send new sessionsto that MME if the difference between the priority of the currently usedMME and the other (new) MME is greater than a predetermined threshold(e.g. such as “5” or “10”). This changes the state behavior of the eNB'sdetermination for S1-AP path selection and not the signaling to it fromthe MMES.

During a failure scenario, when all the preferred MME instances in apool (i.e. those that advertised with a better/higher priority) becomeinaccessible, the eNB would consider the next priority MME instances andthe sessions from the eNB would get re-distributed automatically basedon the relative MME capacities as advertised by MMES of that pool. Inthe example depicted in FIG. 2, MMES 244 and 246 at datacenter site230(2) will be considered as the next priority set when MMES atdatacenter site 230(1) (the local datacenter) become inaccessible.

When an MME datacenter site recovers from a failure, a new set of MMESis added to the pool, or a Priority of an MME is changed and conveys its(higher) priority per eNB group using the S1-Setup procedure, an eNB canstart distributing all new sessions to a higher priority MME and notimpact (preempt) the existing sessions, even if the existing sessionswere attached to lower priority MMES.

It is possible that a “tie” situation may occur where two or more MMEShave the same priority value. In this situation, the base station mayperform a tie-breaking evaluation by selecting one of the MMES with thesame priority, based on their utilization (i.e., Relative Capacities),distance from the base station, etc.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 3A and 3B for a description of a messagesequence for the eNB setup and update process 300 according to anexample embodiment. By way of example, the process 300 involves twoeNBs, eNB_A at 302 and eNB_B at 304, an MME11 at 306 that is part of afirst existing MME pool (pool X), two additional MMEs, MME21 at 308 thatis to be added to a second existing pool (pool Y) and MME12 at 310 thatis to be added to the first existing pool (pool X). The eNBs 302 and 304are part of an eNB group called Group 1. For example purposes, there isanother eNB group referred to as Group 2. In addition, the processinvolves a service orchestrator entity shown at 312 that communicateswith the MMEs, and a radio network management entity 314 that is incommunication with the service orchestrator entity 312. The radionetwork management entity 314 has or obtains knowledge about the eNBs(locations, etc.) and pools of MMEs (number of MMEs, location of MMEs,capacity, etc.) and generates the priority information for MMEs based onthat knowledge. The radio network management entity 314 provides thispriority information to the service orchestrator entity 312.

The eNB setup and update procedures as defined in 3GPP TS 36.413 areused in some of steps of this sequence. At 320, the S1-Setup procedureis performed between eNB 302 and MME 306. MME 306 responds with aPriority 1 for Group 1 eNBs and Priority 2 for Group 2 eNBs. At 322, theS1-Setup procedure is performed by eNB 304 and MME 306, and the MME 306responds to eNB 304 with the same information as it provided to eNB 302.Depending on the eNB that the MME 306 responded to as part of theS1-Setup procedure, the MME 306 returns Priority 1 or Priority 2. ThePriority is an addition to the tables in clauses 9.1.8.5 S1 SETUPRESPONSE and 9.1.8.10 MME CONFIGURATION UPDATE of 3GPP TS 36.413, asdescribed above.

At 330, MME 308 is instantiated with service orchestrator entity 312 inpool Y. At 332, the service orchestrator entity 312 provides priorityinformation to the MME 308. This priority information may provide, forexample, that MME 308 has Priority 2 for Group 1 eNBs and Priority 1 forGroup 2 eNBs. At 334, MME 308 sends a message to the serviceorchestrator entity 312 indicating that it is now in service.

At 340, MME 310 is instantiated with service orchestrator entity 312 inpool X. At 342, the service orchestrator entity 312 provides priorityinformation to the MME 310. This priority information may provide, forexample, that MME 310 has Priority 1 for Group 1 eNBs and Priority 2 forGroup 2 eNBs. At 344, MME 310 sends a message to the serviceorchestrator entity 312 indicating that it is now in service.

When the service orchestrator entity 312 instantiates MME 308, the eNBs302 and 304 are updated with this GUMEI and the eNB's setup S1-AP. Thisis shown at 350 and 352 in FIG. 3A.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3B. At 360, eNB 302 sends an S1-Setuprequest to MME 308. At 362, MME 308 sends an S1-Setup response thatincludes Priority 2 for eNB 302. As shown at 364, MME 308 is Priority 2for eNB 302 so MME 308 is not used for eNB 302 unless MME 306 is notavailable. Once the eNB has an S1-Setup response with Priority 2 for anMME, it knows not to use that MME regardless of the Relative Capacityunless availability of a Priority 1 MME goes below a certain threshold.

At 370, eNB 304 sends an S1-Setup request to MME 310, and at 372 MME 310responds with an S1-Setup response with Priority 1. As indicated at 374,eNB 304 will use MME 310 as per its Absolute/Relative Capacity becauseMME 310 has Priority 1 for eNB 304.

In the example flow below, MME 306 is not responding (as shown at 375)and eNB 302 switches to MME 308 for the UE initial setup. Specifically,as shown at 376, eNB 302 loses the connection to MME 306. As indicatedat 380, eNB 302 switches over to use MME 308 since it has lost itsconnection to MME 306. At 382, eNB sends an initial UE message to MME308. MME responds with the Initial UE Context Setup request to eNB 302,at 384. The UE's that were being managed by MME 306 re-attach to MME 308and all other MME's with Priority 2. This is standard S1-Flex behavior.

If all the MMES with Priority 1 are not available, the eNB may startusing an MME with Priority 2. Alternatively, if all the MMES withPriority 1 have reached capacity, then the eNB can select to use an MMEwith Priority 2. This could occur if some or all the Priority 1 MMESsend an OVERLOAD START as defined in clause 8.7.6, “Overload Start” of3GPP TS 36.413 and clause 4.3.7.4, “MME Control of Overload” of 3GPP TS23.401.

An MME's Priority can be modified so that it may become available foruse by a particular eNB. For example, at 390, the Priority of MME 390 isupdated, so as to, for example, become a new backup MME for an eNB, suchas eNB 302, due to the failure of MME 306. The Relative Capacity of anMME can be updated at any time. The MME may change its Relative Capacitydue to auto-scaling events, etc. At 392, MME 310 sends a configurationupdate to eNB 302 to notify eNB 302 of its change in Priority. eNB 302may respond with an MME configuration update acknowledgment message at394.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, for a description of a flowchart of aprocess 400 performed by a radio network management entity, such as theradio network management entity 314 shown FIGS. 3A and 3B. The radionetwork management entity performs the process 400 for a mobile corenetwork that includes a plurality of (datacenter) sites at which one ormore management entities are provided to manage connections of userequipment served by a base station entity. At 410, the radio networkmanagement entity defines a plurality of base station entity groups,each of which includes one or more base station entities. At 420, theradio network management entity assigns to a management entity apriority to be used for selection by a base station entity in aparticular base station entity group of the plurality of base stationentity groups, the priority depending on whether the management entityis part of a primary management entity pool for the particular basestation entity group or is part of a backup management entity pool forthe particular base station entity group.

As described above, the primary management entity pool may be at a localsite with respect to the particular base station entity group and thebackup management entity pool may be at a remote site with respect tothe particular base station entity group.

The assigning operation 420 may involve assigning priority to managemententities such that management entities at the local site can have thesame or different priority, per base station entity group.

As depicted in FIG. 2, there may be a plurality of backup managemententity pools. In this case, the assigning operation 410 may involveassigning a different priority depending on which one of the pluralityof backup management entity pools the management entity is a part.

As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the radio network management entity 314provides to a service orchestrator entity 312 priority information thatincludes the priority assigned to the management entity, and the serviceorchestration entity 312 provides the priority to the management entity.

Turning to FIG. 5, a flowchart is shown for a process 500 that amanagement entity performs in a mobile core network. At 510, themanagement entity obtains (e.g., from a service orchestration entity,direct configuration, default, etc.) priority information that indicatesa priority assigned to the management entity. The priority is to be usedby a base station entity for selection of the management entity among aplurality of management entities to manage connections of the basestation entity, the priority being dependent on which of a plurality ofgroups of base station entities for which the management entity may beselected.

At 520, the management entity determines to provide to a particular basestation entity the priority information for the management entity. At530, the management entity provides to the particular base stationentity the priority information for the management entity according towhich of the plurality of groups of base station entities the particularbase station entity is a part. The management entity may performoperation 520 by providing the priority in a message sent in response toa setup request message received from the particular base station entityor in an update message sent to the particular base station entity.Moreover, the management entity may also provide, in operation 530,relative capacity information that indicates available capacity of themanagement entity to handle connections and for use in selecting for usebetween two or more management entities that have the same priority.

As described above, a higher priority (e.g., represented by a lowernumerical value) in the priority information provided to the particularbase station entity indicates to the particular base station entity thatit is to select the management entity for primary usage over managemententities that have a lower priority (e.g., represented by a highernumerical value). The particular base station entity is to select alower priority management entity for backup usage.

In one form, as depicted in FIG. 2, the higher priority in the priorityinformation indicates that the management entity is part of a primarymanagement entity pool for the particular base station entity and thelower priority in the priority information indicates that the managemententity is part of a backup management entity pool for the particularbase station entity.

Also as shown in FIG. 2, there may be a plurality of backup managemententity pools of which the management entity may be a part. In this case,the lower priority in the priority information depends on which one ofthe plurality of backup management entity pools the management entity isa part. Furthermore, the primary management entity pool may be at alocal site with respect to the base station entity and the backupmanagement entity pool may be at a remote site with respect to the basestation entity.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for aprocess 600 performed by a base station entity in a mobile core network.At 610, the base station entity obtains from each of a plurality ofmanagement entities a message including a priority that indicates aselection priority the base station entity is to use when selectingamong the plurality of management entities to manage connections of userequipment served by the base station entity. A higher priority indicatesto the base station entity that it is to select a management entityamong the plurality of management entities for primary usage overmanagement entities that have a lower priority, which the base stationentity is to select for backup usage.

At 620, the base station entity selects a first management entity of theplurality of management entities based on the priority for each of theplurality of management entities. As explained above, the base stationentity may make the selection based further on relative capacityinformation included in the message, the relative capacity informationindicating available workload capacity of the management entity.

The process 600 may further include determining that the firstmanagement entity cannot be used for new connections, such as due tofailure, loss of connectivity or capacity overload of the firstmanagement entity. In this case, the base station entity switches to asecond management entity for managing connections of the base stationentity, wherein the second management entity has a lower priority thanthat of the first management entity.

Further still, the process 600 may include determining that the firstmanagement entity has restored or that a third management entity isavailable that has a higher priority. In this case, the base stationentity will continue to use the second management entity for managingexisting connections, and will select among the first management entityand the third management entity to use for new connections of the basestation entity. Selecting among the first management entity and thethird management entity may be based on a difference between a numericvalue representing the priority of the first management entity and anumeric value representing a priority of the third management entity.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the obtaining operation 610 may include:obtaining from a first pool of management entities the message thatincludes the relative capacity information and priority for eachmanagement entity in the first pool of management entities, wherein thepriority associated with each management entity in the first pool ofmanagement entities is higher indicating that the first pool ofmanagement entities is to be for primary usage; and obtaining from asecond pool of management entities the message that includes therelative capacity information and priority for each management entity inthe second pool of management entities, wherein the priority associatedwith each management entity in the second pool of management entities islower indicating that the second pool of management entities is to befor backup usage. In this case, the selecting operation 620 may involveselecting the first management entity from the first pool of managemententities based on relative capacity information among the managemententities in the first pool of management entities.

Furthermore, the process 600 may further include determining that all orat least a predetermined number of the management entities in the firstpool of management entities have reached their peak capacity. In thiscase, the base station entity switches to the second pool of managemententities to select a management entity among the plurality of managemententities in the second pool of management entities based on relativecapacities of the management entities in the second pool of managemententities. Switching to the second pool of management entities includesautomatically distributing connections of the base station entity to thesecond pool of management entities based on relative capacities ofmanagement entities in the second pool of management entities.

In still another form, as depicted in FIG. 2, the method may includeobtaining from a third pool of management entities the message includingthe relative capacity information and priority for each managemententity in the third pool of management entities. The priority associatedwith each management entity in the third pool of management entities islower than the priority for each management entity in the second pool ofmanagement entities to indicate that the third pool of managemententities is to be for backup usage.

In yet another form, the process 600 further includes obtaining from athird pool of management entities the message that includes the relativecapacity information and priority for each management entity in thethird pool of management entities. The priority associated with eachmanagement entity in the third pool of management entities is the sameas the priority for each management entity in the first pool ofmanagement entities. In this case, the selecting operation 620 involvesselects the first management entity from the first pool of managemententities and the third pool of management entities based on relativecapacity information among the management entities in the first pool ofmanagement entities and in the third pool of management entities.

FIG. 7 illustrates a hardware block diagram of a computing apparatus 700that may perform the functions of any of the servers or computing orcontrol entities referred to herein. It should be appreciated that FIG.7 provides only an illustration of one embodiment and does not imply anylimitations with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedenvironment may be made.

As depicted, the apparatus 700 includes a bus 712, which providescommunications between processor(s) 714, memory 716, persistent storage718, communications unit 720, and input/output (I/O) interface(s) 722.Bus 712 can be implemented with any architecture designed for passingdata and/or control information between processors (such asmicroprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.), systemmemory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware components within asystem. For example, bus 712 can be implemented with one or more buses.

Memory 716 and persistent storage 718 are computer readable storagemedia. In the depicted embodiment, memory 716 includes random accessmemory (RAM) 724 and cache memory 726. In general, memory 716 caninclude any suitable volatile or non-volatile computer readable storagemedia. Instructions for the control logic 719 may be stored in memory716 or persistent storage 718 for execution by processor(s) 714. In thecase where the computing apparatus 700 is performing management entityfunctions, the control logic 719 may be priority notification logicthat, when executed by the processor(s) 714, cause computing apparatus700 to perform the management entity operations depicted in FIG. 5 andelsewhere and described herein. In the case where the computingapparatus 700 is performing radio network management entity operations,the control logic 719 may be priority configuration generation logicthat, when executed by the processor(s) 714, cause computing apparatus700 to perform the radio network management entity operations depictedin FIG. 4 and elsewhere and described herein.

One or more programs may be stored in persistent storage 718 forexecution by one or more of the processor(s) 714 via one or morememories of memory 716. The persistent storage 718 may be a magnetichard disk drive, a solid state hard drive, a semiconductor storagedevice, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM), flash memory, or any other computer readable storage media thatis capable of storing program instructions or digital information.

The media used by persistent storage 718 may also be removable. Forexample, a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage 718.Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, andsmart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto anothercomputer readable storage medium that is also part of persistent storage718.

Communications unit 720, in these examples, provides for communicationswith other data processing systems or devices. In these examples,communications unit 720 includes one or more network interface cards.Communications unit 720 may provide communications through the use ofeither or both physical and wireless communications links.

I/O interface(s) 722 allows for input and output of data with otherdevices that may be connected to computing apparatus 700. For example,I/O interface 722 may provide a connection to external devices 728 suchas a keyboard, keypad, a touch screen, and/or some other suitable inputdevice. External devices 728 can also include portable computer readablestorage media such as database systems, thumb drives, portable opticalor magnetic disks, and memory cards.

Software and data used to practice embodiments can be stored on suchportable computer readable storage media and can be loaded ontopersistent storage 718 via I/O interface(s) 722. I/O interface(s) 722may also connect to a display 730. Display 730 provides a mechanism todisplay data to a user and may be, for example, a computer monitor.

The programs described herein are identified based upon the applicationfor which they are implemented in a specific embodiment. However, itshould be appreciated that any particular program nomenclature herein isused merely for convenience, and thus the embodiments should not belimited to use solely in any specific application identified and/orimplied by such nomenclature.

Data relating to operations described herein may be stored within anyconventional or other data structures (e.g., files, arrays, lists,stacks, queues, records, etc.) and may be stored in any desired storageunit (e.g., database, data or other repositories, queue, etc.). The datatransmitted between entities may include any desired format andarrangement, and may include any quantity of any types of fields of anysize to store the data. The definition and data model for any datasetsmay indicate the overall structure in any desired fashion (e.g.,computer-related languages, graphical representation, listing, etc.).

The present embodiments may employ any number of any type of userinterface (e.g., Graphical User Interface (GUI), command-line, prompt,etc.) for obtaining or providing information (e.g., data relating toscraping network sites), where the interface may include any informationarranged in any fashion. The interface may include any number of anytypes of input or actuation mechanisms (e.g., buttons, icons, fields,boxes, links, etc.) disposed at any locations to enter/displayinformation and initiate desired actions via any suitable input devices(e.g., mouse, keyboard, etc.). The interface screens may include anysuitable actuators (e.g., links, tabs, etc.) to navigate between thescreens in any fashion.

The environment of the present embodiments may include any number ofcomputer or other processing systems (e.g., client or end-user systems,server systems, etc.) and databases or other repositories arranged inany desired fashion, where the present embodiments may be applied to anydesired type of computing environment (e.g., cloud computing,client-server, network computing, mainframe, stand-alone systems, etc.).The computer or other processing systems employed by the presentembodiments may be implemented by any number of any personal or othertype of computer or processing system (e.g., desktop, laptop, PDA,mobile devices, etc.), and may include any commercially availableoperating system and any combination of commercially available andcustom software (e.g., machine learning software, etc.). These systemsmay include any types of monitors and input devices (e.g., keyboard,mouse, voice recognition, etc.) to enter and/or view information.

It is to be understood that the software of the present embodiments maybe implemented in any desired computer language and could be developedby one of ordinary skill in the computer arts based on the functionaldescriptions contained in the specification and flow charts illustratedin the drawings. Further, any references herein of software performingvarious functions generally refer to computer systems or processorsperforming those functions under software control. The computer systemsof the present embodiments may alternatively be implemented by any typeof hardware and/or other processing circuitry.

The various functions of the computer or other processing systems may bedistributed in any manner among any number of software and/or hardwaremodules or units, processing or computer systems and/or circuitry, wherethe computer or processing systems may be disposed locally or remotelyof each other and communicate via any suitable communications medium(e.g., LAN, WAN, Intranet, Internet, hardwire, modem connection,wireless, etc.). For example, the functions of the present embodimentsmay be distributed in any manner among the various end-user/client andserver systems, and/or any other intermediary processing devices. Thesoftware and/or algorithms described above and illustrated in the flowcharts may be modified in any manner that accomplishes the functionsdescribed herein. In addition, the functions in the flow charts ordescription may be performed in any order that accomplishes a desiredoperation.

The software of the present embodiments may be available on anon-transitory computer useable medium (e.g., magnetic or opticalmediums, magneto-optic mediums, floppy diskettes, CD-ROM, DVD, memorydevices, etc.) of a stationary or portable program product apparatus ordevice for use with stand-alone systems or systems connected by anetwork or other communications medium.

The communication network may be implemented by any number of any typeof communications network (e.g., LAN, WAN, Internet, Intranet, VPN,etc.). The computer or other processing systems of the presentembodiments may include any conventional or other communications devicesto communicate over the network via any conventional or other protocols.The computer or other processing systems may utilize any type ofconnection (e.g., wired, wireless, etc.) for access to the network.Local communication media may be implemented by any suitablecommunication media (e.g., local area network (LAN), hardwire, wirelesslink, Intranet, etc.).

The system may employ any number of any conventional or other databases,data stores or storage structures (e.g., files, databases, datastructures, data or other repositories, etc.) to store information(e.g., data relating to contact center interaction routing). Thedatabase system may be implemented by any number of any conventional orother databases, data stores or storage structures (e.g., files,databases, data structures, data or other repositories, etc.) to storeinformation (e.g., data relating to contact center interaction routing).The database system may be included within or coupled to the serverand/or client systems. The database systems and/or storage structuresmay be remote from or local to the computer or other processing systems,and may store any desired data (e.g., data relating to contact centerinteraction routing).

The present embodiments may employ any number of any type of userinterface (e.g., Graphical User Interface (GUI), command-line, prompt,etc.) for obtaining or providing information (e.g., data relating toproviding enhanced delivery options), where the interface may includeany information arranged in any fashion. The interface may include anynumber of any types of input or actuation mechanisms (e.g., buttons,icons, fields, boxes, links, etc.) disposed at any locations toenter/display information and initiate desired actions via any suitableinput devices (e.g., mouse, keyboard, etc.). The interface screens mayinclude any suitable actuators (e.g., links, tabs, etc.) to navigatebetween the screens in any fashion.

The embodiments presented may be in various forms, such as a system, amethod, and/or a computer program product at any possible technicaldetail level of integration. The computer program product may include acomputer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readableprogram instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry outaspects of presented herein.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present embodiments may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects presented herein.

Aspects of the present embodiments are described herein with referenceto flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to the embodiments.It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrationsand/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerreadable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or blockdiagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions,which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing thespecified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in thefigures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, beexecuted substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagramsand/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

Turning to FIG. 8, a block diagram is shown of a base station entity 800configured to perform the operations described herein as part of thezero-touch failover/switchover techniques presented herein. The basestation entity 800 includes one or more antennas 810, one or more radiofrequency (RF) transceiver(s) 820, a baseband processor (modem) 830, acontroller 840, memory 850, a wired network interface 860 and a bus 870.The RF transceiver(s) 820, baseband processor 830, controller 840,memory 850 and network interface 860 may be connected to the bus 870.

The RF transceiver(s) 820 are configured to wireless transmit, viaantenna 810, signals to be received by UEs and to receive, via antenna810, transmissions from UEs. The baseband processor 830 performsbaseband signal processing (baseband modulation and basebanddemodulation) as well as other signal processing and packet formatting,transmission scheduling, etc. The network interface 860 may be embodiedby one or more network interface cards that enable networkcommunication. This allows the base station entity 800 to communicatewith other entities in a mobile core network, such as managemententities, for example.

The controller 840 may be embodied by one or more microprocessors ormicrocontrollers. The controller 840 executes instructions stored inmemory 850 to perform various control functions for the base stationentity 800. In one form, the memory 850 stores instructions formanagement entity selection logic 880. The controller 840, whenexecuting the instructions for management entity selection logic 880, iscaused to control the operations of the base station entity 800 toperform the operations as part of the zero-touch failover/switchovertechniques described herein.

Alternatively, the baseband processor 830 may be embodied by one or moreapplication specific integrated circuits that are configured (infirmware, for example) to perform the operations of the managemententity selection logic 880.

In summary, techniques are presented herein in which a new informationelement signaling priority of a management entity is included in a setup(e.g., S1-Setup) response or in configuration update messages sent by amanagement entity to a base station entity. The base station entityinterprets this priority information along with the existing relativecapacity information in an appropriate way to load-distribute thetraffic/calls to highly preferable management entity instances (at alocal site) when they are available and switchover/failover to lowerpreference management entity instances (at a remote site) when there isa local site outage/failure or insufficient capacity in a geo-resilientpooled network.

In one form, a method is provided that is performed by a managemententity in a mobile core network, the method comprising: obtainingpriority information that indicates a priority assigned to themanagement entity, the priority to be used by a base station entity forselection of the management entity among a plurality of managemententities to manage connections of the base station entity, the prioritybeing dependent on which of a plurality of groups of base stationentities for which the management entity may be selected; determining toprovide to a particular base station entity the priority information forthe management entity; and providing to the particular base stationentity the priority information for the management entity according towhich of the plurality of groups of base station entities the particularbase station entity is a part.

Similarly, a management entity apparatus is provided comprising anetwork interface that enables network communications, and a processor,wherein the processor is configured to: obtain priority information thatindicates a priority assigned to the management entity, the priority tobe used by a base station entity for selection of the management entityamong a plurality of management entities to manage connections of thebase station entity, the priority being dependent on which of aplurality of groups of base station entities for which the managemententity may be selected; determine to provide to a particular basestation entity the priority information for the management entity; andprovide to the particular base station entity the priority informationfor the management entity according to which of the plurality of groupsof base station entities the particular base station entity is a part.

Moreover, one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media isprovided, encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processorof a management entity apparatus, cause the processor to performoperations including: obtaining priority information that indicates apriority assigned to the management entity, the priority to be used by abase station entity for selection of the management entity among aplurality of management entities to manage connections of the basestation entity, the priority being dependent on which of a plurality ofgroups of base station entities for which the management entity may beselected; determining to provide to a particular base station entity thepriority information for the management entity; and providing to theparticular base station entity the priority information for themanagement entity according to which of the plurality of groups of basestation entities the particular base station entity is a part.

In another form, a method is provided that is performed by a radionetwork management entity for a mobile core network that includes aplurality of sites at which one or more management entities are providedto manage connections of user equipment served by a base station entity,the method comprising: defining a plurality of base station entitygroups each of which includes one or more base station entities; andassigning to a management entity of the one or more management entities,a priority to be used for selection by a base station entity in aparticular base station entity group of the plurality of base stationentity groups, the priority depending on whether the management entityis part of a primary management entity pool for the particular basestation entity group or is part of a backup management entity pool forthe particular base station entity group.

Similarly, a radio network management entity apparatus is provided for amobile core network that includes a plurality of sites at which one ormore management entities are provided to manage connections of userequipment served by a base station entity. The apparatus includes anetwork interface that enables network communications, and a processorcoupled to the network interface. The processor is configured to: definea plurality of base station entity groups each of which includes one ormore base station entities; and assign to a management entity of the oneor more management entities, a priority to be used for selection by abase station entity in a particular base station entity group of theplurality of base station entity groups, the priority depending onwhether the management entity is part of a primary management entitypool for the particular base station entity group or is part of a backupmanagement entity pool for the particular base station entity group.

Moreover, one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media isprovided, encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processorof a radio network management entity apparatus for a mobile core networkthat includes a plurality of sites at which one or more managemententities are provided to manage connections of user equipment served bya base station entity, cause the processor to perform operationsincluding: defining a plurality of base station entity groups each ofwhich includes one or more base station entities; and assigning to amanagement entity of the one or more management entities, a priority tobe used for selection by a base station entity in a particular basestation entity group of the plurality of base station entity groups, thepriority depending on whether the management entity is part of a primarymanagement entity pool for the particular base station entity group oris part of a backup management entity pool for the particular basestation entity group.

In still another form, a method is provided that is performed by a basestation entity in a mobile core network, the method comprising:obtaining from each of a plurality of management entities a messageincluding a priority that indicates a selection priority the basestation entity is to use when selecting among the plurality ofmanagement entities to manage connections of user equipment served bythe base station entity, wherein a higher priority indicates to the basestation entity that it is to select a management entity among theplurality of management entities for primary usage over managemententities that have a lower priority, which the base station entity is toselect for backup usage; and selecting a first management entity of theplurality of management entities based on the priority for each of theplurality of management entities.

Similarly, a base station apparatus is provided that includes a networkinterface to enable network communications, and a processor coupled tothe network interface, wherein the processor is configured to: obtainfrom each of a plurality of management entities a message including apriority that indicates a selection priority the base station apparatusis to use when selecting among the plurality of management entities tomanage connections of user equipment served by the base station entity,wherein a higher priority indicates to the base station apparatus thatit is to select a management entity among the plurality of managemententities for primary usage over management entities that have a lowerpriority, which the base station apparatus is to select for backupusage; and select a first management entity of the plurality ofmanagement entities based on the priority for each of the plurality ofmanagement entities.

Moreover, one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media isprovided, encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processorof a base station, cause the processor to perform operations including:obtaining from each of a plurality of management entities a messageincluding a priority that indicates a selection priority the basestation is to use when selecting among the plurality of managemententities to manage connections of user equipment served by the basestation, wherein a higher priority indicates to the base station entitythat it is to select a management entity among the plurality ofmanagement entities for primary usage over management entities that havea lower priority, which the base station is to select for backup usage;and selecting a first management entity of the plurality of managemententities based on the priority for each of the plurality of managemententities.

The descriptions of the various embodiments have been presented forpurposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variationswill be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminologyused herein was chosen to best explain the principles of theembodiments, the practical application or technical improvement overtechnologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a management node in amobile core network, the method comprising: obtaining, by the managementnode from a service orchestrator node, priority information thatindicates a first priority for a first group of a plurality of groups ofbase station nodes and a second priority for a second group of theplurality of groups of base station nodes, assigned to the managementnode, wherein the priority information is to be used by a base stationnode for selection of the management node among a plurality ofmanagement nodes to manage connections of the base station node;determining to provide to a particular base station node the priorityinformation for the management node; and providing to the particularbase station node the priority information for the management nodeaccording to which of the plurality of groups of base station nodes theparticular base station node is a part.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein a higher priority in the priority information provided to theparticular base station node indicates to the particular base stationnode that it is to select the management node for primary usage overmanagement nodes that have a lower priority, and the particular basestation node is to select a lower priority management node for backupusage.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the higher priority in thepriority information indicates that the management node is part of aprimary management node pool for the particular base station node andthe lower priority in the priority information indicates that themanagement node is part of a backup management node pool for theparticular base station node.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein thereare a plurality of backup management nodes pools, and wherein the lowerpriority in the priority information depends on which one of theplurality of backup management node pools the management node is a part.5. The method of claim 3, wherein the primary management node pool is ata local site with respect to the base station node and the backupmanagement node pool is at a remote site with respect to the basestation node.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein providing comprisesproviding the priority information in a message sent in response to asetup request message received from the particular base station node orin an update message sent to the particular base station node.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein providing includes providing relativecapacity information that indicates available capacity of the managementnode to handle connections and for use in selecting for use between twoor more management nodes that have a same priority.
 8. A methodperformed by a radio network management node for a mobile core networkthat includes a plurality of sites at which one or more management nodesare provided to manage connections of user equipment served by a basestation node the method comprising: obtaining, by the radio networkmanagement node, information about a plurality of base station nodes;assigning each of the plurality of base station nodes, by the radionetwork management node, into one of a plurality of base station nodegroups each of which includes one or more base station nodes of theplurality of base station nodes; and assigning, by the radio networkmanagement node, to a management node of the one or more managementnodes, a priority to be used for selection by a base station node in aparticular base station node group of the plurality of base station nodegroups, the priority depending on whether the management node is part ofa primary management node pool for the particular base station nodegroup or is part of a backup management node pool for the particularbase station node group.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the primarymanagement node pool is at a local site with respect to the particularbase station node group and the backup management node pool is at aremote site with respect to the particular base station node group. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein assigning comprises assigning prioritiesto management nodes such that management nodes at the local site canhave a same or different priority, per base station node group.
 11. Themethod of claim 8, wherein there are a plurality of backup managementnode pools, and wherein assigning includes assigning a differentpriority depending on which one of the plurality of backup managementnode pools the management node is a part.
 12. The method of claim 8,further comprising providing to a service orchestration node, priorityconfiguration information that includes the priority assigned to themanagement node, wherein the service orchestration node provides thepriority to the management node.
 13. The method of claim 8, assigningthe priority includes: assigning, by the radio network management nodeto the management node, the priority such that the priority is differentfrom another priority of another management node at same local site,based on being assigned to a different base station node group.
 14. Amethod performed by a base station node in a wireless network, themethod comprising: obtaining from each of a plurality of managementnodes a message including a priority that indicates a selection prioritythe base station node is to use when selecting among the plurality ofmanagement nodes to manage connections of user equipment served by thebase station node and relative capacity information that indicatesavailable workload capacity of a respective management node from amongthe plurality of management nodes, wherein a higher priority indicatesto the base station node that it is to select a management node amongthe plurality of management nodes for primary usage over managementnodes that have a lower priority, which the base station node is toselect for backup usage, and wherein the priority includes a firstpriority for a first group of a plurality of groups of base stationnodes and a second priority for a second group of the plurality ofgroups of base station nodes; and selecting a first management node ofthe plurality of management nodes based on the priority for each of theplurality of management nodes and the relative capacity information. 15.The method of claim 14, further comprising: determining that the firstmanagement node cannot be used for new connections; and switching to asecond management node for managing connections of the base station nodeentity, wherein the second management node has a lower priority thanthat of the first management node.
 16. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: determining that the first management node has restored orthat a third management node is available that has a higher priority;continuing to use the second management node for managing existingconnections; and selecting among the first management node and the thirdmanagement node to use for new connections of the base station node. 17.The method of claim 16, wherein selecting among the first managementnode and the third management node is based on a difference between anumeric value representing the priority of the first management node anda numeric value representing a priority of the third management node.18. The method of claim 14, wherein obtaining includes: obtaining from afirst pool of management nodes the message that includes the relativecapacity information and priority for each management node in the firstpool of management nodes, wherein the priority associated with eachmanagement node in the first pool of management nodes is higherindicating that the first pool of management nodes is to be for primaryusage; obtaining from a second pool of management nodes the message thatincludes the relative capacity information and priority for eachmanagement node in the second pool of management nodes, wherein thepriority associated with each management node in the second pool ofmanagement nodes is lower indicating that the second pool of managementnodes is to be for backup usage; and wherein selecting comprisesselecting the first management node from the first pool of managementnodes based on relative capacity information among the management nodesin the first pool of management nodes.
 19. The method of claim 18,further comprising: determining that all or at least a predeterminednumber of the management nodes in the first pool of management nodeshave reached their peak capacity; and switching to the second pool ofmanagement nodes to select a management node among the plurality ofmanagement nodes in the second pool of management nodes based onrelative capacities of the management nodes in the second pool ofmanagement nodes.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein switching to thesecond pool of management nodes includes automatically distributingconnections of the base station node to the second pool of managementnodes based on relative capacities of management nodes in the secondpool of management nodes.
 21. The method of claim 18, wherein obtainingfurther comprises: obtaining from a third pool of management nodes themessage including the relative capacity information and priority foreach management node in the third pool of management nodes, wherein thepriority associated with each management node in the third pool ofmanagement nodes is lower than the priority for each management node inthe second pool of management nodes to indicate that the third pool ofmanagement nodes is to be for backup usage.